gers desirous of speaking to the Members on their entrance to the House; that there be one or more Galleries at the lower end of the House for the accommodation of 200 strangers, of which a portion in the centre to contain 24 reporters; each of which Galleries should have a separate access, and a Retiring-room at no great distance, for the strangers respectively to occupy when the House is cleared; that accommodation for mem

SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES.

May 28. Thomas Amyot, esq. Treasurer, in the chair.

Sydney Smirke, esq. F, S. A. communicated an account, accompanied by drawings, of various original features of the architecture of Westminster Hall, developed during the repairs now proceeding under the superintendence of his brother Sir Robert Smirke. It has been fully ascertained that the walls of the Hall as high as the cornice or string course within, are of the identical fabric erected by William Rufus. Mr. Smirke passed an unfavourable opinion on the soundness of their structure, the cement not being so strong as in most ancient works, and the stones consisting of rubble work, of various kinds, (sometimes very fragile,) specimens of which were laid upon the table. On the remodelling of the Hall by Richard II. the walls were cased with Caen stone, and the massy external buttresses added, which have greatly contributed to their support, and to carry off the weight of the roof. At the same time the upper part of the walls was rebuilt, and perhaps raised; larger windows were inserted; and a Norman colonnade, or triforium, was obliterated, which appears to have run round the original Hall, in the manner of a gallery, from which access might be had to the windows, tapestry might be suspended, or a certain number of spectators might survey the throng below. This remarkable feature of the original structure has been disclosed in several parts, and we have already mentioned an engraving of a portion of it, which has been published in the first number of Britton's "Palace of Westminster." Mr. Smirke exhibited some of the original Norman capitals, which have been found built into the walls; and also an ancient sheath for a knife or a dagger, made of leather stamped with a small pattern of lions and fleursde lis. In a postscript, Mr. Smirke stated the remarkable fact, that it has been ascertained that the walls of St. Stephen's

Chapel, when complete, were raised to a still greater height than the ruins now show them having the addition of a clerestory.

June 11. H. Hallam, esq. V.P. The following gentlemen were elected Fellows of the Society: Edward Ord Warren, esq. of Horkesley Hall, near Colchester, F. G.S.; Francis Mercier, esq. of Torrington-square; Jabez Gibson, esq. of Walden in Essex; Benjamin Golding, M.D. of St. Martin's-lane, author of a History of St. Thomas's Hospital; and Simon Macgillivray, esq. of Salisbury-street.

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John Gage, esq. Director, gave an account of the important discoveries recently made in the largest barrow of the Bartlow Hills, on the confines of Essex and Cambridgeshire. It will be recollected that these barrows consist of two rows, four of a larger size, and three of a smaller, and that two of the latter were investigated by Mr. Gage in 1832, and his observations printed in the 25th volume of the Archæologia.

About two months ago the largest barrow of the whole was very scientifically opened under the superintendence of the land-agent employed by Lord Maynard. A gallery, or passage, level with the surrounding surface, was cut from one side of the mound, and directed immediately towards its centre, to which it arrived after proceeding to the extent of forty feet; and the deposit was immediately found, in the spot where from experience it was expected. The articles of value had been placed in a large wooden chest, and the sweepings of the funeral pyre collected into a coarse earthen vessel, which was laid by its side. The soil had not fallen in upon the chest, although the wood was almost entirely decayed; but every article remained undisturbed in its original position. They are, 1. a large square vessel of glass, which contained the calcined bones of the deceased; 2, a bronze prefericulum, ornamented with a sphinx on its handle; 3. a patera, of

bronze, having a handle terminating in a ram's head; 4. a small vessel of bronze, very beautifully enamelled in a pattern of blue, red, and green, with a moveable handle; it is supposed to be a censer, or vessel for perfumes; 5. a large bronze lamp, with a lid or cover in the form of a leaf; the wick and residuum of the oil remained within, and it is supposed to have been left burning in the sepulchre; 6. a folding chair of iron, tipped and ornamented with bronze, and having some remains of the leather straps by which the seat was attached; 7, 8. two glass bottles, one containing a liquid which Mr. Faraday conjectures may have been a mixture of wine and honey; 9, and 10, two bronze strigils. No coins were found; nor any pottery, except the coarse vessel already mentioned. The whole afforded additional proof that the Romans had sepulchral barrows as well as the Celts; that the Bartlow hills are Roman sepulchres; and that the theory which has attri buted their formation to the Danes, and thereby supported the location of the battle of Assandune at Ashdon, and that which has assigned to the same people the erection of the round church towers abounding on the Eastern coast, have been vain and visionary.

June 19. The Society re-assembled after the Whitsuntide recess, for the last time this season, H. Hallam, esq. V.P. in the chair.

The following gentlemen were elected Fellows: Robert Pashley, esq. M. A. resident Fellow of Trinity college, Cambridge; William Wallen, esq. of Spital square, architect; and William Cotton, esq. of the Priory, Letherhead, Surrey.

Mr. Richard Tongue presented two oil-paintings by himself, one representing the Coeton Arthur, near Newport in Pembrokeshire, and the other the Tolmen near Constantine in Cornwall.

Hudson Gurney, esq. V. P. exhibited a dagger found at Messrs. Barclay and Perkins' brewhouse, near the site of the Globe Theatre.

S. C. Northcote, esq. exhibited an earthen vessel, of coarse manufacture, and blackened with fire, found near St. Olave's church in Southwark,

J. Y. Akerman, esq. F.S.A. exhibited two Roman coins lately found by the workmen employed in removing the foundations of old London Bridge. Large conglomerated masses are now continually brought up from the bed of the river, and they are generally found to contain Roman coins. A Commodus in large brass was lately discovered in one of these masses; another contained a gold Valens; while numbers of the small brass of the lower empire are frequently found in them. Among the latter were the two exhibited to the Society: one of Allectus, the assassin of Carausius, the other of Marius, a tyrant in Gaul, who is said to have held the sovereignty in that province for only three days.

Samuel Woodward, esq. exhibited a copper bulla, lately found at Castle Acre in Norfolk. It is round, about two inches and a half in diameter, embossed on one side with the figure of a man on horseback, in a shirt of mail, holding in his right hand a bow and in his left an arrow; on the other, a similar figure, holding in his right band a faulchion, and on the left a concave shield. Mr. Woodward presumed it to be Saxon; but many who saw it thought it of Oriental work.

A communication from Sir Francis Palgrave was then read, being a letter of Martin Tindal, Fellow of King's college, Cambridge, to Secretary Cromwell.

John Yates, esq. communicated a paper on the invention of Paper made from linen rags; and as early a date as 1263, in Germany, was mentioned.

A further portion was also read of Mr. Repton's collections respecting Female Head-dresses.

The Society then adjourned to the 9th of November.

A Prospectus is in circulation for the formation of an ARCHEOLOGICAL AND TOPOGRAPHICAL INSTITUTION. The immediate objects are to investigate, describe, and illustrate the antiquities of the various counties in England, Wales, and Scotland, the results to be arranged and classed in chronological order, under the following heads: I. Celtic, or British Antiquities; 2 Roman Roads, Stations, Encampments, and other Remains; 3. Saxon, Danish, and Norman Antiquities; 4. Castles, Monastic, and Ecclesiastical Buildings, &c.; 5. Old Mansions, Crosses, Bridges, &c. Committees are to be formed in the metropolis, and others in the counties, to undertake and direct the separate subjects of inquiry; and it is proposed to commence with the county of Kent.

Several ancient remains have been discovered at Jumieges in France, not far from the Forest of Brotonne. They were found buried nine feet below the surface of the earth under the turf. Amongst other objects were the following:-Two hatchets, supposed to be Celtic, of copper; the point of the blade of a sword, of bronze; a bronze vase of a circular form, the orifice of which is four inches in diameter; and a leaden plate ornamented with figures of dolphins in relief. All these curiosities were sent to the Museum of Antiquities by M.

Doucet.

took part, the last of whom suggested that the amendment should be withdrawn, and the question met by a direct negative. Eventually the House divided on the original motion, which was negatived by a majority of 317 against 114.

HOUSE OF LORDS.

June 3. Lord Brougham brought in a Bill to alter and amend the LAW OF PATENTS. His Lordship stated, that it was bis intention to repeal the Statute of James, and consolidate into one Act all the Acts which had since passed relating to patents. The object of the Bill was to give greater facility in procuring patents, and to secure the enjoyment of them to the inventors, in a better manner than was now the case. He proposed that the person wishing to have a patent should record his specification, and obtain a fiat from the Attorney-General; but the patentee should then enter his disclaimer, and give notice of his invention in the Gazette, and advertise the same in some of the newspapers in the neighbourhood in which he lived; but having obtained the fiat of the Attorney-General, which expressed the patent to be innocent, and not noxious or fraudulent, and having filed his disclaimer (of which evidence might hereafter be given in the Courts of Law and Equity, in case his patent was invaded), he should have the sole use of his patent. He also proposed a clause to give a power of applying to the Privy Council for an extension of time, beyond the usual period of 14 years.-The Bill was then read a first time.

In the HOUSE OF COMMONS, the same day, The SABBATH OBSERVANCE Bill was thrown out by a majority of 54 to 43.

The WILLS' EXECUTION Bill, and the EXECUTORS' and ADMINISTRATORS' Bill, were read a third time and passed.

On the motion of Mr. Lynch, the RoMAN CATHOLIC MARRIAGES' Bill was, after some opposition, read a second time.

On Mr. Elphinstone's motion for the second reading of the Bill for limiting the POLLS for Counties and Boroughs to one day, a discussion of some length ensued. The opinion of most of the speakers was favourable to its object, though some doubted the practicability of taking the poll in one day.-The Bill was read a second time.

ceeded to state that the Bill would include 183 boroughs-containing about 2,000,000 of inhabitants. He proposed that all municipal charters, which were inconsistent with the provisions of the Bill, should be wholly abolished. One uniform system of election would be established, and there would be the same description of officers, with the exception of a few large places. The present ratepayers of the towns were to choose the Common Council. He proposed that there should be one body only, consisting whom the powers of the Corporation of a Mayor and Common Council, in should be vested. All pecuniary rights, now enjoyed by individuals, he proposed to preserve during their lives, and also all peculiar rights; but that no person should in future be a burgess of those Corporations, except in accordance with the conditions to which he had alluded. Persons who were free of a city would retain the privileges which they now possessed; but he proposed that in future such exclusive privileges should not be granted. The Mayor would be annually elected by the Council, and during that time he should be a Justice of the Peace. When the

officers were appointed, they would immediately have power to appoint a Town. Clerk and a Treasurer. He proposed to abolish all bodies instituted by local Acts, and to commit the preservation of the peace wholly to the Corporations. He proposed wholly to abolish some of the ble Lord concluded by stating that the Corporations in minor towns. The Noabove were the principal points of the Bill. Sir R. Peel said he should offer no opposition to the motion. The time, he thought, had arrived when a more efficient mode of Corporation government ought to be adopted. The reports of the Commissioners showed that amendments were required, but the Bill went to establish new principles. After a few laudatory remarks from various Hon. Members, leave was given to bring in the Bill without a single dissentient voice. It was subsequently read a first time, and ordered for a second reading on June 15th.

June 5. Lord J. Russell moved for leave to bring in a Bill for the Better Regulation of the MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS of England and Wales. After instancing some of the numerous abuses which had crept into those bodies, his Lordship pro